Direct Opposites
by Pursued-Alive
Summary: Naruto's in a bit of a slump, and Sasuke tries to find out why. The blonde is being cryptic, which is not exactly like him - and Sasuke finds out that it's his writing that is making him feel a tad depressed. What will Sasuke suggest to alleviate the problem?


Always talking, never shutting up. He knew that would be a damn problem ever since he met him. His talkativeness to such a quiet person was nothing short of...irritating. But even an irritated person had their moments that made silence rather uncomfortable. He knew something was wrong when the blonde stared silently into his glass, sloshing the brown liquid around. Naruto was never a person to brood too long on any given thought or subject. He just wasn't that type. "...Are you all right, Naruto?" Dark, oceanic eyes met bottomless black orbs as he slowly raised his head and gave a displeased snort, before looking back into the depths of his chilled beer. Sasuke furrowed his brows, leaning forwards on his elbows. He raised a hand and gave his glass a flick, and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oi. Say something, will you?" "...'m not feeling inclined to." A long sigh fell from his lips as the raven-haired man fell back into his seat, smoothing back his hair. "Look, if you don't say something, dobe, I won't know what on earth is wrong with you. At least give me a clue?" "...Losing faith..." he mumbled cryptically. Sasuke's brow twitched. Why the hell was he being so cryptic today? Blinking slowly, he grabbed Naruto's beer and slid it towards the edge; he didn't do anything so much as even look up. "...Work is...hectic. I haven't been getting much sleep lately...and to top it off, money's tight." "What, isn't your writing bringing in enough money?" "No... My motivation is failing me, Sasuke. It's not enough these days for an aspiring writer...all they want is the big shots...and look at me, do I look like a big shot?" "Well..." Sasuke deflated. Naruto really did seem down in the dumps about his writing and lack of motivation. Naruto gave a sigh and his mouth twitched into a bitter smile. "You needn't say anything..." he muttered, putting his head in his hands. "This work just isn't a best-seller..." "What's your novel about?" "...To be blunt, a relationship between two guys." Sasuke flushed at this and cleared his throat by taking a sip of his drink. He actually didn't know that Naruto was into that sort of...stuff. If anything, Naruto seemed pretty popular with the girls, but his relationships never worked out with them. Was that why...? "It starts off with one of them being abused as a child...and he has a best friend who is more like a brother to him than anyone else, help him through his teenage years...and they wind up at college after being separated in high school for years...and he finds out his feelings for him are more than he anticipated...and...yeah." "That sounds really good!" Naruto blinked at Sasuke's praise, believing it to be almost too good to be true. After all, Sasuke...praising him? That was the first. Usually he didn't praise a lot of people. He perked a brow sceptically. "Really?" "Yeah! I think people could relate to it...especially well, gay people, after all...there aren't many novels for homosexual people these days on the shelves." Naruto nodded in agreement. "That's why I kind of wanted to go in that direction." "Does this mean you like...men?" A dark flash of red seeped into Naruto's cheeks and he nodded somewhat shyly. "...I do... I thought you'd...y'know...harbour something against me for...liking...them...or something..." His words were but mumbles, and Sasuke had to strain his ear forwards to hear him as the blonde played with the grain of wood with a finger. "Nah. We're best friends, Naruto, not enemies. I don't care who you like, really...hell, it could be me, and I probably wouldn't...-" Naruto's head snapped up, and he widened his eyes. "What'd you say?" "I said that I didn't care who you like?" Sasuke looked at him, confused. Wasn't that what...he said? "No, after that," Naruto said lowly. "...You said something about me liking you." "Yeah, and...? So what?" "What if I do?" Sasuke stared at Naruto for a long time before he burst out laughing, and Naruto glared at him. "I'm being serious, Sasuke. Man, you're such an asshole sometimes!" "Hey, hey, I was joking, idiot," Sasuke snapped, deadpanning. "But you really are serious...aren't you... Well, why don't we give it a shot, then? Might give you some inspiration for your novel." Naruto grinned madly. "You bet. But I require something in return if we're going out." "I don't think it works out that way, dobe.." "...As much ramen as I want." Sasuke stared at him, gobsmacked. "Are you kidding?! What the hell?" Naruto smirked coyly. "Plus you'll get a quarter of the profits if this book becomes a best-seller." "Tch, whatever, fine." They were direct opposites - and yet, not. 


End file.
